Can Ghosts Kill People?
by Homicide-Inside
Summary: Shikamaru was lazily spending the day watching the clouds go by instead of attending class. But an accident takes place leaving Kakashi with the dilemma of spreading the word of the chuunin’s death. Reposted and Complete. Written when I was 10. Rated K
1. As the Clouds Fade

**Can Ghosts Kill People?**

**Summary: **Shikamaru was lazily spending the day watching the clouds go by instead of attending class. But an accident takes place leaving Kakashi with a dilemma of spreading the word of the chuunin's death. (Reposted and Complete) Rated K+.

**Disclaimers: **_Naruto_ is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. All the copyrights associated with _Naruto_ belong to him. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

**Author's Notes: **Just reposting the first fanfiction I have ever written. I believe I was in Fourth or Fifth Grade when I wrote this. I just fixed it up. Enjoy and R'n'R! :D

* * *

**Chapter One: As the Clouds Fade**

It was a nice and refreshing day, with the clouds calmly drifting across the sky. The wind was gently blowing—quite a nice day to rest and relax. It's such a shame, though, that certain students were spending the lovely afternoon indoors. Not like they had a choice anyway. They were forced to stay and listen to their former teacher as he went on and on refreshing them of the important and basic Ninja lessons.

And yet, one chuunin didn't want to waste the perfect day. And so he didn't attend the class. I'm sure you know who that certain ninja was.

Shikamaru lay at a nice and peaceful spot—his favorite spot to sleep and daydream (It was much less troublesome than attending lectures.) There were no troublesome missions, no troublesome teammates, no troublesome assassins…

He awoke in a jolt as he dodged a surprise kunai attack from no where. '_A kunai?_' he thought. '_Why, of all things, a simple and lowly attack? Or maybe…I'm just underestimating it._' He eyed the kunai and his jaw dropped in horror as he saw an explosion seal. "What the—"

Meanwhile, Kakashi was happily reading the new edition of _Icha Icha Paradise_. "Ho ho ho…good thing Iruka decided to lecture some ninja rules to those 12 students…now let's see—"

_**KABOOM!!!!!!!**_

"What the hell was that?!" He asked to no one in particular. He quickly headed to the site of the explosion. Upon arriving, he found a gigantic pit. "What the hell happened here?" He examined the scene very closely. "An explosion seal caused this." Kakashi concluded. "Who did this? Wait, why would someone do this? Right here… at this spot…"

Kakashi's eyes widened and gasped in horror. He looked for something—something he prayed not to be there. He stopped. A bead of sweat rolled down his face as he saw the lifeless body lying on the burnt grass. "Oh…oh no. No, no, no. How will I explain this to his father? To Asuma? To everybody?"

And thus endeth the perfect afternoon.

**~.::.~**

"Hmm… I wonder where Shikamaru is," mumbled Choji. Naruto commented, "Who knows? He might have gotten too lazy to even go to school."

"Everybody, please quiet down," Iruka sighed. There came a knock on the door.

The visitor didn't want for Iruka to answer. "Yo," Kakashi greeted, pushing the door open.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, his face beaming. He was secretly hoping he would come and pull him away from the class to do a mission.

"What are you doing here, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Iruka," Kakashi called out as if he didn't hear the questions of his pupils. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" Iruka nodded and went out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"I wonder what that was for," Kiba pondered. "And where the hell is Shikamaru?"

"Yeah, it would be improbable that he decided to just gaze at the clouds." Ino said looking outside the window.

"And why is that?" Kiba asked her.

"There aren't any clouds at all."

The knob on the door turned and Iruka slowly stepped inside. His face was distraught with grief that the genins couldn't help but ask what Kakashi told him.

"What's wrong Iruka-sensei?" Tenten asked. Iruka turned slowly to all of them. He gave a heavy sigh before he started. He was at loss for words. How would he tell his students?

"Iruka-sensei, what happened?" Naruto asked.

"It's about…" He gulped. "Shikamaru."

"Oh! They finally found him! Good thing. If he skipped class again, I'd totally kill that jerk!" Ino threw her fists up in the air.

"It's not that at all!" Iruka shouted. Everyone grew quiet. _'Right, I'll tell it to them as direct as possible.'_ "Listen. What I'm going to tell you is true. And…so…" Iruka's lips trembled and he stuttered. "Shikamaru is…" All waited in suspense. Iruka bit his lip. "He's…" He gulped.

"Dead."

"What?!"

* * *

A lot of ellipses there… So annoying… -.-


	2. Unexplained Phenomenon

**Can Ghosts Kill People**

**Disclaimers: **:copypasteplz:

**Author's Notes: **:copypasteplz:

* * *

**Chapter Two: Unexplained Phenomenon**

They all rushed to the hospital and found Tsunade, Shizune and Ton-Ton beside the bed where Shikamaru lay. They were all shocked of what had happened. Shikamaru? A chuunin? Beaten easily? Impossible!

Naruto went in front of Tsunade. "Hey, Tsunade baa-chan. You can bring him back to life, can't you? You have amazing powers and I'm sure this is not a problem for you! And…"

"No…I…I couldn't do anything…"

"What?! You're an expert in medicine! Why can't you do something?!" Sakura pleaded.

"I believe in you, Tsunade-sama! You can do it! Bring him back." Lee said.

"For his family, Hokage-sama. For his team and for…me…his best friend…" Choji was about to cry in front of everybody for the loss of his best friend."

Tsunade sighed and felt her heart sink as her words resonated in the silent room. "I can't."

No. No way.

Tsunade began to shed tears. She couldn't bring him back, just like what happened to her lover and to his brother. _'I couldn't bring him back either. He was a trust-worthy kid. He was a great leader. I…I couldn't…'_

Shizune comforted Tsunade. "Oh, Tsunade-sama…"

"Why…" Naruto stammered as he slowly walked towards the bed. "Why did you…" He jumped on the bed and started shaking the lifeless body. "Why the hell did you die, Shikamaru? Wake up! Wake up I said!"

Ino walked closer to Shikamaru and banged her fist on his chest. "What did you do?"

Naruto started slapping him. "Shikamarushikamarushikamaru!"

"Naruto, Ino, stop it. You might be hurting him up there…" Kakashi said pointing to the ceiling, causing everyone to look up as well.

A long pause. "Oh, Shikamaru…" Iruka sighed.

The funeral began shortly after sunset. The rain didn't pour—strange, but it somehow lifted the mood a bit. Yoshino cried and cried as she said her regrets, especially her rude behavior for a mother to her son. Shikaku comforted her, hiding his sorrow for the loss of his only child. The others regretted everything they had done and had not done to and for him. It was too late. They accepted Shikamaru's fate. Slowly, one by one, they gave flowers to the boy in his coffin. He never liked white flowers, nor did he like reds or pinks. This was very well known by his family and they decided to offer blue and violet flowers. All faces were glum. Some cried: he's just a young boy! Why did you take him, Lord? Why—

"Mmmm…" Huh?

"Ow, my head hurts…" Shikamaru tried to move is hands to massage his head, but, obviously, he couldn't. "Damn, my whole body aches. It's so hot in here…" He groaned, with his eyes still half open. He lifted his head and banged it on something hard, which caused him to become fully awake. "Ow! What the—" He tried to push the lid but it didn't budge. "Dammit, who put me inside this thing?! If this is a joke, it's not funny!"

"I feel sorry for Choji, Ino, Asuma and his parents…" Sakura sighed.

"I never knew he would die in a surprise attack. It's just not like him!" Naruto said, still in disbelief of what had happened.

"Even though I didn't know him well, he was pretty youthful…" whispered Lee. Everyone had left the dead (supposedly) body in peace.

It was only then that Shikamaru was able to lift the lid and breathe fresh Konoha air. "Darn it…so troublesome. What was I doing in there anyway?" He rubbed the bump that appeared on his forehead "Ah, who cares…" He left the silent place and went to look for food. Well, if you were unconscious and mistaken to be dead for more than 7 hours, wouldn't you feel hungry too?

"Alright Choji, I'll go now." Ino waved goodbye and went off. Choji was too occupied of himself that he didn't notice he was alone in a dark and silent street. He just munched away slowly.

"Wait a minute—" He soon realized that he was alone and started eating his chips as fast as he could, frightened by the possibility that ghosts might appear out of nowhere. _'I hope there are no ghosts in here…'_ He thought. Just thinking about it makes him want to piss his pants.

Then he heard a voice. "Choji…" Oh man, he's pissing his pants. He slowly and nervously turned to see who it was. He saw Shikamaru of course. "Hey, Choji…let's grab some barbeque." Choji's face read fear, shock and speechlessness. Hey, if you saw a ghost, you'd either:

A. Run away in fright (common sense!)

B. Be stupid enough to stay where you are- frozen like ice

C. Be not afraid and wait for your end to come

D. Faint

For Choji, he picked eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat.

"Hey Choji, are you alright?" Shikamaru asked nearing him. Choji, finally snapping out of it, grabbed all the chips he had in his pocket and shoved them to his allegedly dead best friend.

"Hereherehere! Takeittakeittakeit! Just don't kill me!"

"What are you saying, Choji?" Shikamaru said as he laid his hand on Choji's shoulder.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! A GHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSTT!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran away, leaving Shikamaru absolutely clueless of the event.

"What the heck?" He blinked twice then put a finger under his chin. "Can ghosts kill people—wait, what am I saying?"

* * *

Surprise! Shikamaru _wasn't_ dead at all. :D


	3. Constant Screams and Runs

**Can Ghosts Kill People?**

**Chapter Three: Constant Screams and Runs**

Naruto walked glumly after eating his dinner at the Ichiraiku Ramen stall. "My stomach aches. I feel so bad…" he mumbled. He was disturbed by his thoughts and concentrated on visiting Shikamaru's dead body for one last time. As he looked up, he saw a plump genin stumbling towards him. "What the—" _**BANG!**_

"Ouch…" they both mumbled.

"Grr…CHOJI! You imbecile! How is it that you can run without looking at who you might bump into?!" Naruto demanded an explanation. Choji had no time to argue though. He was much too scared to. Shivering, he grabbed Naruto's shirt. "You gotta run Naruto! Shikamaru came back to life to haunt and kill us! He's just another sick psycho ghost! YOU GOTTA HELP ME! RUN!!!" Choji ran away…again…leaving the oblivious Naruto to his doom (well, to Choji of course.)

"What the hell was that guy saying? Is he really that okay or did he turn nuts?"

"Oi, Naruto!!" The said genin turned around and saw in surprise the lazy chuunin, as Choji stated, running about and—surprisingly—not dead.

As the said ghost caught up with him, he gasped for breath. "N-Naruto…I…Choji…did he just pass by?" Naruto just stared speechless, regarding the fact that he wasn't supposed to be, well, alive. Shikamaru, disturbed by Naruto's silence, put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Naruto—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Naruto screamed.

"What the heck?" Shikamaru said covering his ears. "Oi, Naruto!"

"OH MY GOD! IT IS TRUE! YOU _ARE_ A GHOST! YOU _ARE_ GONNA KILL US! NOOOO! I HAVEN'T DONE ALL THOSE THINGS I WANTED TO DO! I'VE NEVER KISSED SAKURA YET! I'VE NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO BECOME HOKAGE! I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU TAKE THOSE CHANCES FROM ME YOU—YOU—YOU! AAAAAAH! IRUKA-SENSEI! KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto ran, just as Choji did.

"Wait a minute!" Shikamaru called out, still ignorant about his _'inexistence'_ here on earth just hours ago. "Can't someone be kind enough to tell me why everyone is running away from me frightened without _him_ running away from me?"

"Sh—Shikamaru?" A voice behind him spoke.

'_Darn it…'_ Shikamaru groaned. _'He better not run and scream _"Daddy!"_ like a little girl…'_

He turned around and saw the pale-looking Kiba and the ever-calm—so it would seem—Shino. "What the—? AAAAAAAHHHH! SHIKAMARU CAME BACK TO LIFE! THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! WAAAHHH!" Kiba cried out and fainted all of a sudden.

There was a lapse of silence between the friends. "Uh…anyways, what the hell are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked. "The question is…what are _you_ doing here?" Shino said as he raised a brow, like always.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how should I put this?" Shino began. He was trying to be nice, not wanting to shock Shikamaru. "To tell you simply, you're dead."

Ok, maybe being nice isn't his forte.

"What the—wait a minute! I can't be dead 'cause I know I'm not dead and I'm _not_ dead. And if I was really dead then shouldn't I be living a less troublesome after life up there?"

"Which concludes to the fact that you're here right now, alive and _not_ dead. I know. Anyways, you should inform the townspeople that you're not dead."

"Fine—" Shikamaru stopped at his tracks as a thought came up in his mind. _'Or maybe,'_ he snickered, _'it wouldn't really hurt if I scared someone for a while.'_ "Hey, Shino."

"Hn?"

"Could you do me a favor?"

**~.::.~**

"What are you planning?" Shino questioned him as he gave Shikamaru the requested supplies.

"Just something before I tell Konoha I'm breathing," he replied.

The bug boy gave no reply, as always. And he left the chuunin, dragging the still unconscious Kiba along with him—literally speaking.

The chuunin smirked at his plan. He messed up his hair, put powder and red paint all over himself, tore his clothes a bit and put an arrow headband on his head. "It's called troublesome fun," he stated.

As this was happening, Naruto was calling out: "IRUKA-SENSEI! IRUKA-SENSEI!"

"Huh?" Iruka turned his head and saw Naruto nearing him. "What's wrong Naruto?" Naruto gasped for breath.

"It's…(gasp)…Shikamaru…(gasp)…he's come back to life!"

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Come again? Are you sure you weren't seeing things? Maybe you just hallucinated because you couldn't bear the burden."

"I'm not hallucinating! I really saw him! He's going to kill us all!!"

Iruka stared at him. He then put his left thumb and index fingers under his chin. "Can ghosts kill people?" he asked himself in a low whisper. "Anyways, why are you so pressured? Don't you think that he might _'kill' _only those whom he hates? Don't tell me you did something to provoke him all these years."

"Uhm…" Naruto remembered all those times when he did something he shouldn't have done to Shikamaru. All those times when he accused Shikamaru of betraying his formed team when they were sent to retrieve Sasuke from the Sound Ninjas, when he called him an idiot and a good-for-nothing ninja, or when he called him just plain lazy.

"Ehehehh…I'm dead…"

"Naruto…"


	4. Can People Kill Ghosts?

**Can Ghosts Kill People?**

**Chapter Four: Can **_**People**_** Kill Ghosts?**

Sakura and Sasuke walked silently home. Sakura couldn't bear the silence but just couldn't find the right words to say. "Uhm…Sasuke-ku—"

"Sasuke!"

The two turned around and saw Ino running towards them. She jumped and clung onto Sasuke.

"Oi, Ino! Get out from him! Darn it, you destroyed the moment of dear Sasuke and I!" Sakura yelled at her.

"You can't even say a decent thing to him."

"Aww, shut up!"

"Besides, I'm not quite elated this moment so I need someone to comfort me and that one would be, of course, my dear Sasuke-kun!"

"Don't get your dirty pig germs on him!"

"What did you say?!"

"Darn it…" mumbled the topic of the argument. "I should've asked someone to kill me just like what Shikamaru had to go through."

"Shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"Big forehead!"

"Flat-chested pig!"

"Sasuke…"

The three genins wondered where the voice came from. It had a creepy low tone which startled them quite a bit.

"Sasuke…you no good son of a dead clan…" The three looked in horror and saw, from afar, a panting, bloody, messy and ghost-like figure with tattered clothes.

"Sasuke…Ino…Sakura…" He slowly lifted his head revealing his identity. "Sh-Shikamaru?" Sasuke muttered. Sakura and Ino screamed as they shielded themselves behind Sasuke. Shikamaru walked slowly and zombie-like towards them. Sasuke, Ino and Sakura shivered like they wanted to piss their own pants (or skirts.) Sasuke had to act fast. He reached for a kunai from his thigh bag and threw it towards Shikamaru who, of course, evaded it.

"What are you doing Sasuke! You can't hurt a ghost if it's already dead!" Ino yelped.

"What do you expect me to do? Run away screaming a dead guy's name?" Sasuke said, referring to his father or mother.

"He's getting closer!" Sakura cried. Again, the two girls screamed as if they intended for Sasuke's ears to bleed.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Sasuke shouted. Still, they kept screaming. "I said shut up! I've got a plan!"

"What's your plan Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke stared at his two companions with a completely fearless expression.

"…Run."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The three ran the way likewise to Naruto and Choji. Shikamaru broke into laughter. "Oh my god, I can't believe how stupid and scared they all looked!"

"That felt good. Now for some other bait." He turned around and saw, at the corner of the street, Kurenai trying her best to console her friend Asuma. He stared blankly into space, consumed with grief over his Shogi and Go opponent.

"And I was going to give him this new IQ game I knew he would enjoy. But now that he's gone, I…"

"Asuma…" Kurenai said in the sweetest and most reassuring voice she had. She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. "Ye—" Her eyes widened at who she saw. "A-A-A-Asu-su-sum-m-ma!"

Asuma slowly and desolately lifted his head. "What is i—!"

"Yo," Shikamaru, still wearing powder, paint, his hair over his face and an arrow on his head, said waving his hand at the two jounins. Silence grew between the three. Asuma and Kurenai's eyes twitched.

"Oh my…" Asuma muttered.

"God…" Kurenai continued. Shikamaru stared at them.

"Boo."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Kurenai screamed.

Asuma panicked. "Wha-wha-what the—?!" Kurenai jumped behind Asuma in dread. "Who—who are you?"

Shikamaru smirked. He slowly lifted his head for them to perceive. "Asuma-sensei…Kurenai-sensei…"

"No…no, it can't be…" Kurenai stuttered in disbelief.

"Shi—Shikamaru?" Asuma said. Shikamaru did his hand seals and used his Shadow Neck Binding Technique. "I got you now…"

As the shadow hand crept to their necks, Shikamaru waited for a few seconds before drawing it back. Asuma and Kurenai were released of the bind and fell on their rear ends.

"We…we have to fight him!" Asuma insisted.

"But Asuma," Kurenai told him. "You can't kill ghosts!"

There was a pause.

"Really?"

Kurenai grabbed his collar and ran to get away from the chuunin. _'I hope he didn't—'_ Kurenai thought as she looked behind. To her surprise, Shikamaru was chasing them. "AAAAAHHH!!" Kurenai screamed and ran faster, leaving clouds of dust behind them. Shikamaru stopped in his tracks and watched in amusement.

_**GRUMBLE GRUMBLE!**_

"What the—" _'Oh, I forgot…I hadn't eaten yet. Man, I'm really hungry.'_ Shikamaru wiped off the red paint and the powder, fixed his hair and took the headband off. _'Time to go back home and eat.'_

When he arrived home, he swung open the door and called out: "Pops? Ma?" He saw no one inside. Yet, the lights were on, the things were unorganized and there were flowers and whatnot on the tables.

"Hm? Where the hell are those guys?" Shikamaru, who disregarded the fact that he was supposed to be died (again), went up to his room only to find out his things were unarranged and messy. He found everything he once used.

"Isn't this my stuffed deer from back then? Shiki-kun was it? Stupid name. And my old shirts. And isn't this the bear key-chain Choji gave me at the age of 6? And this picture of Kiba, Naruto, Choji and I at the playground. I liked that day. And…is this a _Bambi_ tape?" He then recalled his hunger and headed for the door. He slid the screen open and suddenly saw his own mother staring at him.

"Shi-Shikamaru?" The woman, in her terror, fainted.

"What the—Ma!"

"What the hell happened?" Shikamaru looked up to find his father rushing up the staircase.

"Is something wrong? Yoshino?" As he reached the room, he gasped at the sight of his son. "Shi—Shikamaru?"

'_Oh no…'_ Shikamaru thought. He was sure of what will happen and so he covered his ears just in time.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

'_Geez…he screams like a girl!'_ Shikamaru thought cringing at the annoying cry. As Shikaku's shriek ended, he, of course, fainted.

"Troublesome…"

_**KNOCK KNOCK.**_

"Huh?" Shikamaru headed for the door. "Who the hell would visit us at this time of hour?"

'_Mourners of course. Man, why did I even ask the question if I myself would answer it? Ack, troublesome.'_ He slowly opened the door hoping that they were the serious types, just like Shino.

"Uhh…may I help yo—"

"We wanted to give the both of you these—WHAT THE?!" Gai yelled.

'_Oh, great,'_ Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He was certain his ears would bleed from the screeches once more.

"Shikamaru?" Neji said slightly surprised.

"Oh my—" Hinata felt pale and collapsed just in time for Tenten to grab hold of her.

"Hinata! Are you alright?" She sounded as if she wanted to faint as well.

"WH-WHY ARE YOU ALIVE? OH NO…OH NO!" screamed Lee and Gai, clutching each other while trembling in fear.

"Darn it, you troublesome people! My ears already hurt as it is!" Shikamaru roared.

"Wait…what are you doing here?" Neji asked hastily. Shikamaru eyed the five visitors, each with coleslaw at hand. "Are those for my parents?" he asked.

Tenten nodded. "Now would you please—" In an instant, Shikamaru grabbed the offerings and ate them two times faster than Choji, which caused the four to stare at him with dumbfounded looks.

"Anyways," Shikamaru began as he wiped the stains on his mouth with the back of his hand, "as you can see, I'm still alive so you needn't run yelling '_Help! Shikamaru's alive and he's going to kill us! HELP!_' Understand?"

"Whatever…" Neji muttered.

Without warning, a large crowd gathered at the Nara's house with pitchforks, torches, weapons and bats. They were furious.

"There he is!" cried a familiar voice. "We have to kill him ourselves to save all the women and their children!"

"Hey, isn't that Naruto?" Lee murmured.

"Gah! I forgot about him!" Shikamaru spat out. "That little idiot must've brainwashed this mob!"

"Don't just stand there! Get him!" Naruto ordered.

"GRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The crowd yelled as they charged forward.

"Crap!" Shikamaru cursed as he ran to lose the rabble. "Uhh—hey wait! Shikamaru don't leave us!" Neji cried out.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Gai and Lee yelped. "SO UNYOUTHFUL!"

"AAAHHH!!" Shikamaru ran. Suddenly someone appeared out of no where and ran beside him. "The hell?!"

"Sorry."

"Shino? What the hell are you doing here? You should've brought Kiba home by now." Shikamaru said eying Shino's bugs carrying the cataleptic Kiba beside them.

"I couldn't convince them, especially Naruto. He wouldn't believe the fact that it _is_ you. And you're _not_ dead." Shino replied, ignorant of the Chuunin's questions.

Shikamaru chuckled nervously. "This isn't entirely your fault Shino…I kind of did something to shock some of them…"

"Get that ghost!!" "Give no mercy!!" cried two certain frustrated girls.

"Save the people of Konoha!" cried a woman carrying an unconscious man beside her. Shino furrowed his eyebrows. "You idiot." The rabble came closer.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Hey, Kakashi…" Iruka whispered. "Was it really smart of you to put the idea of assembling a mob in Naruto's head? I mean…you do know that _is_ Shikamaru, right?"

"You needn't fret, Iruka." Kakashi said serenely. "Actually, I never thought that he would take it so seriously, knowing that you could never kill a ghost when it is already dead. Also, there is this fact that ghosts _can_ kill people. What rooted this fact were the assassins that claimed they were ghosts just to kill all the people in their village. Since then, this commotion about _ghosts killing people_ spread out resulting all the villages here to put a ward on their homes when someone passes away to prevent these said people from taking their souls. Although in this village, it was believed to be nothing but a simple story. Only the little ones and the stupid ones—preferably Naruto—believed this. But I never knew the villagers would believe this too."

Iruka nodded slowly. "So what now?"

There was a silence.

"All I can say is…" Kakashi looked at Iruka. "Let's just pray that Shikamaru won't die this time."

"Wait, you _do _know that you were the one who caused this. You told everybody that Shikamaru is dead and _suddenly_ he comes back to life. You should've at least waited for how many hours to confirm if he's dead or not. You made me emote in front of the kids and I feel like I was Punk'd. You know, you should probably think of a plan already to save your dignity, Kakashi."

"Uhm…Ahh! Look, dolphins!"

"Where?!"

The jounin dashed away. Iruka's jaw dropped. "HEY, WAIT! YOU COME BACK HERE!"


	5. Sweet Revenge

**Can Ghosts Kill People?**

**Chapter Five: Sweet Revenge**

"Ow…ow…ow…" Shikamaru propped himself up to avoid stumbling to the ground.

He broke all his bones, fractured his limbs and burnt one-eighth of his bushy hair. He was moaning all day inside his house where his parents were still unconscious because of the little incident. Shikamaru had tightly tucked them in their beds, which was surprisingly thoughtful of him to do.

Suddenly the doorknob turned and Kakashi's head popped out. "Yo."

"You—OW!"

"Don't do any rash movements, Shikamaru."

"Grr…because of you, I HAD TO GO THROUGH ALL THIS! I COULD' VE DIED YOU KNOW—OOOWWWW!"

"You are forgetting that you did die. You just came back to life because of the pain Ino and Naruto caused you."

"They did what?"

"Never mind. What matters is that you're really alive."

"…"

"…"

"You really are alive, aren't you?"

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

"Just checking, geez. No need to get all fired up on me."

Shikamaru glared at him. "I'll get you for this…"

"Anyways…" Kakashi said, pretending he hadn't heard him. "We all learned a very valuable lesson."

"What's that?"

"Never involve Shino when you are being chased by a fuming mob."

"What?" Loud thuds of footsteps were heard and stopped right in front of Shikamaru's door. "Oh god…" Shikamaru gulped.

The door burst open revealing the seething Aburame with his arm on a cast, a bandage on every part of his body and bugs over his eyes to prevent everyone from seeing what they shouldn't. (His eyes, that is.)

"Shi…ka…ma…ru…" he grunted.

"Ah—ah—ah—ah…" Shikamaru stuttered.

Kakashi had already fled to avoid getting hurt.

"I…hey! You just ran beside me! It…isn't entirely my fault…" Shino slowly neared him. "You bastard…You had to let that imp Uzumaki gather all those retards. Now I can't look after my precious bugs! My dad's on a mission for two entire months so he can't help me with my bugs and I can't depend on my teammates because they are disgusted with them! AND—" Shino raised his voice after every sentence.

"Shi-Shino! I—calm down! Lower your voice a little; it's so annoying when you speak so loud, and kinda creepy."

"Not another word Nara! I'm going to get you!"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHY DIDN'T I JUST DIE?!"


	6. The World of the Living

**Can Ghosts Kill People?**

**Chapter Six: The World of the Living**

One fine afternoon…

"NARUTO! WHY THE HELL DID YOU ORGANIZE A MOB JUST TO GET ME?!"

"HOW WOULD I EVEN KNOW THAT YOU DIDN'T ACTUALLY DIE?!"

"ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD EVEN THINK THAT I WOULD KILL YOU! WHY WOULD I EVEN DO THAT?!"

"…and technically, ghost can't kill people."

"No, you're wrong about that fact, Shizune. It all began in an ambush…"

"DON'T START WITH THAT, KAKASHI! YOU REALLY PISS ME OFF! I WAS REALLY EMBARASSED THERE! I FELT THAT I WAS BEING PUNK'D!"

"WAIT, SHIKAMARU! IT'S NOT MY FAULT! IT'S CHOJI! HE BUMPED INTO ME AND SAID THAT YOU CAME BACK TO LIFE TO KILL US!"

"AND WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE THAT?"

"Shikamaru, it's true. I really thought that you came back to life and haunt us..."

"SHIKAMARU! I REALLY HATE YOU! YOU MADE MY HAIR ALL STAND UP! DAMN YOU!"

"WEARING FAKE BLOOD, POWDER AND AN ARROW HEADBAND! _VERY_ MATURE!"

"Hey, Ino, Sakura, chill out."

"BUTT OUT, TENTEN. IF I ONLY KNEW THAT HE WAS ALIVE I COULD'VE KILLED HIM WITH MY CHIDORI. BUT THOSE TWO DAMN CHICKS MADE MY EARS BLEED THAT I COULDN'T THINK PROPERLY!"

"Hey, you three, too?"

"What do you mean?"

"Kurenai and I ran into the phantom Shikamaru."

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING SHIKAMARU?!"

"Kurenai, I bet it's just an accident…"

"Shut up, Asuma!"

"Oh, that night. I…well…uhm. I wanted to have fun before I could eat so I…"

"SO YOU DECIDED TO MAKE FUN OF US?!"

"SEE? THAT'S THE REASON WHY HE GOT INTO THIS, AND GOT ME INVOLVED IN HIS MESS!"

"Sh-Shino, please calm down. I-I never saw you like this before…"

"Hinata, please. I think you shouldn't try to calm Shino down. You might get hurt."

"B-but, TenTen…"

"ARGH! WHY, AT THE FIRST PLACE, WOULD YOU THINK I WAS DEAD?!?!?"

"YOU HAD NO PULSE, DUH."

"SHUT UP!"

"NO, YOU SHUT UP!"

"IT'S KAKASHI!"

"WHAT, WHY ME?!"

"HE TOLD EVERYONE SHIKAMARU'S DEAD! IT'S BECAUSE OF HIM, THAT I EMBARRASSED MYSELF!"

"IT'S TRUE! HE WAS DEAD!"

"AND NOW I'M NOT! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAID THAT I WASN'T A GHOST?!"

"IT'S NARUTO! HE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO'S DUMB ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THAT SHIKAMARU WAS A GHOST WATING TO KILL EVERYBODY!"

"WHY ME?! IT'S CHOJI!"

"I'm so hungry…"

Scratch that. It _wasn't_ quite a fine afternoon in Tsunade's office. While the bruised and bandaged ninjas were arguing about the alleged death of Shikamaru, Tsunade tried her best to be as patient and cool as she can be. However, due to the shouts and yells and curses thrown, she couldn't help but turn red and hit all of their heads with her fist in one blow. Each of them received a bump on each head. Yes, even Shino, who moaned after getting the bump. Hard to believe?

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU! DAMMIT!" Tsunade finally screamed. All of them became quiet. Tsunade breathed in heavily and said, "Now, let's sort this thing out. Shikamaru was sleeping when a kunai with an explosion seal came and tried to hit him."

"Yeah. It's so troublesome."

"Unfortunately, the explosion bomb activated, victimizing Shikamaru."

"Damn that kunai," Shikamaru said, hiding his face.

"HA! You got killed by a kunai!" Naruto laughed out loud.

"Shut up!"

"Then Kakashi came, inspected the scene and saw the dead body of Shikamaru."

"I got really scared there. I thought that I lost someone again."

"Right, continuing. Kakashi rushed Shikamaru to me and I tried to heal him but it was too late."

"Then I told Iruka the story." Kakashi said, pointing to Iruka.

Iruka scratched his head and said, "Oh, uhh…I told the incident to the students." He tried to hide it, but Iruka's face turned pink, still embarrassed from what happened. "And then we rushed into the hospital—"

"—then Naruto and Ino started beating up Shikamaru." Sakura continued.

"Who beat me up?" Shikamaru gasped in disbelief.

"Oh, well, I just couldn't believe that you were dead. That's all!" Ino explained.

"That's not a convincing excuse, if you ask me." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed and started saying curses inside his head.

"Same goes for me!" Naruto raised his hand, agreeing to Ino's explanation.

"I said it wasn't a convincing excuse, idiot."

"Okay, okay, cut it out." Tsunade cut off the conversation. "So we can conclude that Shikamaru came back to life because of the two."

"Uhhh…because the both of them were really hurting Shikamaru from up there?" Kiba asked.

"Yes…I mean no! Because of the punches of the two, Shikamaru was in total shock that his heart began to pound again. Unfortunately, his body was able to regain consciousness when he was in his coffin."

"It's just too troublesome. It's so annoying."

"What happened after that, Shikamaru?" Tsunade said.

"Well, after I got out of my coffin, I looked for food. Then I saw Choji."

"I was freaked out that I pushed all of my chips into his mouth…" choji said.

"Then I ran after him, then I saw Naruto."

"Heh, I'll let you in on a secret. I knew from the very start that Shikamaru's not dead. I just made up that act so that Choji won't get embarra—"

"Give it up, Naruto!" Sakura said, hitting Naruto on the head.

"He freaked out too. And ran. Like a girl. Then I saw Kiba." Chikamaru continued.

"Goddammit, I don't want to talk about it." Kiba groaned.

Shino said, "Kiba fainted."

"SHINO, why did you tell them?"

"Kiba fainted. And I talked to Shino. He's the first person who took me seriously, damn."

"I told him to tell the people that he's not dead but he did something plain stupid…"

"Wait, is that where we come in?" Ino asked.

"Most probably." Shino replied.

"Dammit, Shikamaru! WHY US, IN THE FIRST PLACE?" Ino shrieked.

"I had nothing to do!"

"Shikamaru, the hell with you." Sasuke cursed.

"Whatever, Sasuke. I don't even like you."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" the two girls yelled.

"SHIKAMARU, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU CAUSED?"

"Kurenai, not too loud." Asuma said. "It's not nice to see you all fired up."

"Yeah, Kurenai. You look like my mom already. How annoying." Shikamaru said, covering his left ear with his index finger.

"WHY YOU LITTLE—"

"People, stop it!" Tsunade ended the argument. "Okay, to make it easier, who knows, and believed, that Shikamaru was not dead?"

Shino raised his hand. His eyebrows twitched. "Shikamaru, you are annoying."

Neji raised his hand. He was covered in bandages. "Shikamaru, I'm gonna get you."

Hinata raised her hand. She felt red again. "Shikamaru-kun…"

Tenten raised her hand. She pulled out one of her many dangerous weapons. "Shi…ka…ma…ru…"

Lee raised his hand. He felt crying. "Gai-sensei…this is so hurtful…"

Gai raised his hand. He cried. "Youth is still youthful…"

"How did you six get involved in this?" Shizune asked, still holding Ton-Ton.

"He left the mob to us." Neji said.

"…And to me." Shino said.

"…"

"Kiba, you too got involved." Shino whispered to Kiba.

"Really?"

"…"

"Anyway, it's Shikamaru's fault all in all. He caused the mob because he scared them." Ino concluded.

"It's Naruto's fault! He convinced everyone that I was back to kill people!" Shikamaru retorted.

"It's Kakashi-sensei's fault! He said that I should get people to form a mob and get Shikamaru!" Naruto pointed at Kakashi.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Wait a minute, it's not me."

"TSUNADE-SAMA!" They all shouted in chorus.

Tsunade, feeling pressured, breathed in heavily and said: "You know what? Let's just leave the issue and ignore it. I don't want to waste time for this nonsense."

"WHAT?!"

"Now that's settled. Shikamaru, I welcome you back to the living. Now all of you go away."

Just as Tsunade started pushing all of the ninjas away, there came a knock on the door. The knob turned, and all wondered who it was. The door opened, revealing two ninjas.

"Izumo, Kotetsu!" Shizune said. "Why are you here?"

"Hokage-sama!" Izumo began. "We found someone that might help your little dilemma."

"Come in!" said Kotetsu.

'_Someone that might help me?'_ Tsunade asked to herself.

"Hokage-sama!" a stranger in dirty clothes greeted with respect.

"Eh?" Tsunade raised her eyebrow.

"I am very greatful to stand in your presence!"

"He's a farmer and a ninja who collects worms, Hokage-sama." Izumo said.

"Yes, and one day, I was collecting a bucket full of worms for you! I found this big juicy worm at a _green grassy field_."

"Green grassy field?" Kakashi said.

"I threw a _kunai_ at it to catch it!"

"A kunai?" Shino said.

"But, the funny thing there is that I threw a kunai with an _explosion seal_ attached to it!"

"An…explosion seal?" Neji said.

"Hahaha! It was really funny. Good thing no one was there or else I could've _**killed **_him!"

"How did I suddenly become invisible?" Shikamaru asked, flailing his hands around, cursing everybody in the room.

"Oh, yeah right. We forgot the fact that _someone _threw the kunai at Shikamaru and we weren't able to ask who did such a thing." Tsunade said.

All but the chuunin laughed.

Shikamaru smacked his forehead. "Tch, how troublesome."

* * *

The End! :D Review and tell me how my Kid Self did when she wrote this. x)


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